How to Grow Your Own Goji Berries
The goji berry, also known as the wolfberry, enjoys a reputation as a "superfood" when it comes to delivering antioxidants. According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, this berry with its sweet licorice taste has an antioxidant content by weight more than four times greater than prunes, making fresh berries, dried berries and berry juice a fixture in many trendy diets. Unlike many similar food items, the goji berry is relatively easy to grow at home. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Goji seeds
- Pots (optional)
- Garden spade
- Watering can (optional)
- Stakes (optional)
- Twine (optional)
Instructions
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1
Obtain Goji seeds. One way to obtain the seeds is to harvest them directly from Goji berries, but avoid dried berries for this purpose, as the seeds may be damaged by the drying process.
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2
Select your growing area, either in your garden or where you intend to place your pots. Goji berries require well-drained soil, so pick an area that never forms puddles or pots with a drainage hole in the bottom. The berries grow in semi-shade and full sun, so make sure the area receives a good dose of sunlight every day.
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Plant the seeds in the late spring, or whenever the daytime temperatures reach 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit in your area. Cover the seeds with a thin layer of dirt, using either your hands or a garden spade.
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4
Water the plants lightly, but regularly. Skip watering whenever it rains.
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5
Pinch out the tips of the plants a few weeks after they sprout to prune them into a bushier style of growth.
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Monitor the growth of your plants, as you may need to tie them to support stakes to hold them up. Goji berry plants grow slowly for about the first two to three months of their development, but then grow rapidly. The plant soon grows into a semi-bushy 2- to 3-foot tall plant, akin to a large tomato plant.
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Harvest the berries between August and October.
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Tips & Warnings
Your goji berry plants might not bear fruit in the first year, but most plants bear fruit by their second year.
References
- Photo Credit Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
